Biocube 32 Refugium - Can i keep copopods in it?

[toddrparr]

Hi again all,

 

I swear I'm going to wear out this beginners forum... at some point, hopefully, I can contribute instead of require. Anyway, today question. I'm in the process of setting up my Biocube 32, been cycling about a week and all is well. I was looking into purchasing the Intake media rack and refugium tank for it. My question is can I raise and sustain a copopod colony in this refugium? Do they get sucked out through the circulation pump? Not sure how all this works...

 

Thanks!

[StevieT]

Yes.  They move around, hide in your rocks, in the chaeto, move in and out from the intake grates, get sucked into the pump and then go for a fun ride out the return nozzle.

 

Is there a specific reason you want more pods than what you would have otherwise?

[toddrparr]

I’m going to be putting a goby and a blenny in the tank. I want a good food supply for them and the other fish. 

[SingingSiren]

So.. you can put them in the main tank and not necessarily in a refugium?

Also, if I want to make the media basket of a Biocube 16 w/LED's into a refugium, how exactly/ what exactly would I put in each of the 3 slots of the basket? 😀

 

[FrancineJ]

I am certainly a beginner as well! But from what I have been told is that just putting the pods in the tank they will just eventually get eaten and you will have to re dose them... as for the information I have gotten if you add the intank media basket it should be filter floss on top and then the next 2 are up to your choice (you can also add a 4th tray if you buy the extra green part) but people add anything and everything in the bottom 2 or 3 chamber from purigen to matrix to carbon to different chemipure types...

my plan is to run the intank media basket with (top to bottom) filter floss, purigen, empty space for if I need to add phosguard or carbon or whatever else... then matrix on the bottom... then I have the intank Fuge basket and plan to run it with the macro algae and I have a jbj magnet light..(the light will run opposite tank lights with a slight over lap to help control PH stability) and then I will be adding the kit (can’t remember the name but it’s 2 bottles) you dose those according to directions into the Fuge and it basically will eventually build up a sustainable pod community... rather than just dosing the tank where they will be just eaten and have to be replaced... someone please correct me if I’m wrong but this is the info I have gotten and what my plan is (I have the stuff just waiting until Friday for my tank... it was a half off sale from my lfs supplier so I had to wait a bit longer) 

again hopefully someone corrects me if I’m wrong but this is what was advised to me to sustain the pods rather than them just all being eaten 🙂 

[toddrparr]

I ended up doing something similar. I've got chaeto and a sprig of codium in the fuge basket and I've dose copepods 3X in there. They are doing quite well and once a month I swish the chaeto in the main tank to stock it. Very few are coming through on their own.

[luckie1966]

Tisbe are pods you want. I have bio cube going on 1.3 years and I dosed pods once right after my cycle finished and there still everywhere including the Filter floss.

I have  a gobie pair and they don't even make a dent in them.

[FrancineJ]

Thanks guys! I was planning on adding this system to the tank.... but I can get the same thing for half the price... lol

basically these are the instructions:

 

Turn everything off once the lights go out completely and then dose them in the Fuge (as per recommended) and then after a couple minutes turn back on the pump and such... I guess they will build up in the Chaeto and reproduce and then some will be swept out into the tank and the rest survive and live in the Fuge and whatever it does it feeds them and keeps the population going...

what I am wondering about is some kind of sponge (again hard to tell without the tank in front of me) that is in the 3rd chamber... some people take it out and some leave it in... my concern (and complaints from others) is that if you take off the sponge the Chaeto ends up getting through and clogging stuff... but said sponge is also apparently a nitrate factory.... if I was the leave this sponge in:

1- will the pods still be able to get out?

 

2- if I rinse it once a week with water changes in tank water is it still ok to leave in or will it become said “nitrate factory”?

 

Thanks 

 

[luckie1966]

6 minutes ago, FrancineJ said:

Thanks guys! I was planning on adding this system to the tank.... but I can get the same thing for half the price... lol

basically these are the instructions:

 

Turn everything off once the lights go out completely and then dose them in the Fuge (as per recommended) and then after a couple minutes turn back on the pump and such... I guess they will build up in the Chaeto and reproduce and then some will be swept out into the tank and the rest survive and live in the Fuge and whatever it does it feeds them and keeps the population going...

what I am wondering about is some kind of sponge (again hard to tell without the tank in front of me) that is in the 3rd chamber... some people take it out and some leave it in... my concern (and complaints from others) is that if you take off the sponge the Chaeto ends up getting through and clogging stuff... but said sponge is also apparently a nitrate factory.... if I was the leave this sponge in:

1- will the pods still be able to get out?

 

2- if I rinse it once a week with water changes in tank water is it still ok to leave in or will it become said “nitrate factory”?

 

Thanks 

 

You won't be able to keep this type of copepod long term in a reef tank. These are dose till bottle gone and that's it.  Rotifers need special raising tanks and are possible  long term but are alot of work.

[FrancineJ]

 

 

Yes that’s what apparently this kit allows for... one bottle is for actually feeding them and helping them grow and live in the Fuge and then they get slowly released into the tank... they have different sizes for different tanks and apparently that’s why they recommend adding them during lights out in the tank (so they won’t be drawn there and then once the appropriate amount is added (over a 2 week period) it’s apparently sustainable and with the combination of both bottles (one is the actual pods and one is like food for them) and then shortly after adding you turn on just your Fuge light and they will stay in the Chaeto and eventually build up over the couple of weeks.... this so far has been the most recommended product to me for my biocube 32 (plus it won’t have many fish at the start (after cycle) so not much to eat them...

do you have an alternative recommendation that does not require buying the pods and just adding them to the tank every now and again? I can’t speak for it but apparently people with the same tank as mine have had very good success and have not had to add any pods since buying that product but I love to hear new suggestions all the time! 

[jmcdaniel0]

I have been using algae barn for years.  They are great.  

 

 https://www.algaebarn.com/shop/live-foods/copepods/5280-pods/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwrszdBRDWARIsAEEYhrd_9w-04igMGNdgnwIjbsGYO5eTR_YN04qNVZpBUq6ngnadQIBDIIAaAv-_EALw_wcB

[FrancineJ]

Does algae barn ship to Canada do you know?

[vegasgundog]

When I ran my bc29 I had stevieTs media and fuge baskets. Grew chaeto like crazy and it was always loaded with pods.

[FrancineJ]

I’m buying my Chaeto from (can’t remember the name off the top of my head but someone recommended it to me) but basically you don’t have to do anything to it... it’s comes 100% clean, no pests and I’m guessing no pods so I will have to dose them myself... someone suggested algae barn (that actually might be the place with the Chaeto lol) but my plan was to add them to my (I have the Intank media basket and Intake Fuge with the JBJ light...) my plan was to dose a few in the tank when I get some fish to eat them and then dose some more over the next couple weeks into the Chaeto with also dosing the other stuff phytoplankton (?) I think that’s the name of the other bottle... you can buy them together and the bottles come in appropriate sizes that if you follow the directions you should be able to maintain a population in that tank size... as they will just keep reproducing... so because of the way I am buying my Chaeto it won’t have anything in it... plus I have a hungry dragon goby, 7 Mollies and 4 bumblebee gobies in a brackish tank that if I get over populated would be glad for me to add some lol plus I have African clawed frogs and African dwarf frogs as well as several (oh I don’t know 6 or so 50g tanks and up to 75g that are fresh water that I could just give a quick rinse to the pods and feed it to them as well) so I’m not too concerned with being over populated lol 😂 

i just wasn’t sure if anyone had used a specific brand but most people are leading me towards algae barn and copeopods Canada as the 2 main ones... but I’m a bit away from this anyway... but I have the first few steps down so just trying to get a handle on the next part lol 

Thank you

[jmcdaniel0]

2 hours ago, FrancineJ said:

Does algae barn ship to Canada do you know?

Good question.  I would think so, but I'm in the states so I don't know for sure.  If they do,  I cant recommend them enough.

[FrancineJ]

Ya I am looking over their site right now... looks great!

 

i have a couple of questions:

1- they suggest adding dry rock (so pieces of my LifeRock will work, I’m assuming) to the bottom of your Fuge... I’m wondering just how much to add and I should probably add that while my tank is cycling so it cycles along with it right? 

 

2- then it is suggested to add the Chaeto after cycling- I’m assuming I will want the golf ball size?

 

3- then it suggests adding the pods and phytoplankton... is there a specific amount I should buy? The common one seems to be like 5000 and some pods... I don’t think I’ll need that many... should I go with a lower amount or do they keep in the jar at all for a period of time? Or do you have to add them all at once?